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Men accused of selling heroin after citizen reports, K9 search

A suspect admitted to investigators that he had met with others to purchase over $1,300 of heroin.

Roger Enrique Sandres-Orellena & Jackson Taylor Nichols (Courtesy of the Laramie County Sheriff's Office)

A K9 search on a vehicle has lead to the arrest of two men on felony drug charges. Officials say the men were involved in the sale of heroin out of a Cheyenne motel room.

Jackson Taylor Nichols, born in 1992, and Roger Enrique Sandres-Orellana, born in 1988, were arrested following an investigation by the Cheyenne Police Department’s Community Action Team, on August 6, 2020.

Nichols made his initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court on August 7, 2020. During that hearing he was charged with a felony count of Possession with Intent to Deliver Heroin, a felony count of Possession of Heroin, and a misdemeanor charge of Possession of Methamphetamine.

Sandres-Orellana has been charged with felony Delivery of Heroin, felony Possession With Intent to Deliver Heroin, and felony Possession of Heroin.

Investigation into the incident began when employees of a hotel on the 1800 block of West Lincolnway in Cheyenne, called dispatch and claimed of a known individual, who had previously been trespassed, was coming onto the hotel property.

Over the course of the day it was reported that a man, identified by witnesses as Nichols, continued entering the hotel parking lot from an adjacent motel property, and meeting with vehicles.

At approximately 1:45 pm, August 6, during the surveillance, police report seeing Nichols meeting with the occupants of a black Chevrolet Tahoe. After a short while, Nichols was said to return to the motel and the Tahoe left the parking lot.

Detectives followed the Tahoe, noting that the window tint was darker that legally permitted, and alleging that vehicle crossed over the solid white fog line two times, a stop was conducted on the Tahoe. Officers made contact with Sandres-Orellana inside the vehicle. During the traffic stop, a Cheyenne police K9 unit conducted a free air sniff of the exterior of the Tahoe, indicating the presence of controlled substances inside.

A search of the vehicle found an estimated 45 grams of suspected heroin, hidden in a cup holder in the vehicle, inside two bags.

Sandres-Orellana is reported to have told investigators that he transported heroin from Colorado to the motel where he met with Nichols. He further told officers that the heroin that had been found in the vehicle had been intended to be sold to Nichols, but that Nichols had not had enough money. An affidavit of probable cause filed in Laramie County Circuit Court says that Sandres-Orellana told officers that he had hidden the suspected heroin in the cup holders.

Two other occupants of the vehicle were released without any reported charges.

Nichols was contacted outside of a Lincolnway motel at approximately 5:30 pm, August 6. The affidavit says that Nichols admitted to investigators that he had met with Sandres-Orellana at the motel parking lot to purchase over $1,300 of heroin.

He is further reported to have said that he was purchasing the heroin to sell to residents in the Cheyenne, Wyoming area.

A search of Nichols’ hotel room reportedly yielded approximately 30 grams of suspected heroin, and approximately 2.4 grams of suspected methamphetamine.

Nichols and Sandres-Orellana were both transported to the Laramie County Detention Center without further reported incident.

All of those cited or arrested are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law. Charges are subject to change following official filings from the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office. 


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